Angela Capers, Balanced Fitness

30/06/2024

Fun day with coworkers supporting Ronald McDonald House!

30/06/2024

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8zxE22uvHB/?igsh=YTVsazVydnU4NXls

23/08/2023

04/04/2023

Thank you to all who took the time to wish me a happy birthday! I read each message and am grateful for each of you. I spent my birthday morning at a beautiful resort in Mexico and the rest of the day traveling home.

12/06/2022

I am so proud of each one of these teenagers (and adult leaders). They gave up a whole week of their summer to work hard, serve and show love to strangers (and eachother) in the name of Jesus. They have gotten out of their comfort zone and experienced personal and spiritual growth, and have inspired me as I serve alongside them. When I was a teenager I was much more self-centered and it never occurred to me to pull weeds, build six stack pallets of 40 pound boxes--or do any other kind of work for strangers.
This week we packed over 6000 meals to be sent to Haiti and worked on tasks in the warehouse that sends them out; did yard work and mended siding and fences for homeowners while providing conversation and love to those widows and empty nesters; built a shed step, sanded picnic table boards, mowed, and planted at a high school garden so that the teacher could focus on the lessons and helping feed the food-insecure students; helped deep clean a homeless shelter; worked and shared smiles at a couple food pantries; threw a fun block party style cookout for the neighborhood around the church; and prayed for all of them and eachother. Some of us even got Froo Swagy sharpie tattoos with our new friend. We also had a LOT of fun & took time each evening to worship and learn from different speakers.
People have thanked me for "taking a week out of my life" to help lead these teens and serve strangers, but this isn't a week out of my life, it is one of the most important parts of my life. I am blessed and my life is better because of these teens that I consider to be my kids, too.

24/09/2021

Sleep
It seems that people like to brag about being SO busy and only getting a few hours of sleep and needing their coffee because of it. But although common, it’s not impressive; it means sleep isn’t a priority. Sleep is very important to your well-being. Your glymphatic system operates primarily during sleep, clearing metabolites & proteins from the central nervous system and facilitating brain-wide distribution of several compounds, including glucose, lipids, amino acids, growth factors and neuromodulators. Failure of glymphatic function seems to contribute to pathology in stroke, neurogenerative disorders, and traumatic brain injury.
Not only does sleep deprivation decrease brain function, but also 1mmune system function. British Journal of Medicine reports that the chances of getting our latest famous bug decreases by 12% with each extra hour of sleep over 5 hours. So if you’re getting 8 hours, you have a 36% lower chance of getting the bug. Chronic sleep problems increased the chance of getting it by 88%!
The American Journal of Infection Control reports that the lack of sleep decreases v@cc1ne effectiveness. A study at UCSF found that those with less than 6 hours of sleep per night were 11 times less likely to be protected as those with adequate sleep.
I’m sure you’ve heard lots of tips for getting better sleep, so I’ll just discuss ways to encourage your body to produce adequate melatonin, which helps regulate sleep. Exposure to abnormal light decreases your melatonin production. Giving yourself a screen curfew and making sure to get sun exposure during the day will help. Sun exposure increases serotonin production (which is a precursor to melatonin) and decreases cortisol production (which suppresses melatonin. If you are changing time zones, taking a high quality melatonin supplement can help.
Check out this meme I snagged from the Johns Hopkins Medicine website to see some more effects of sleep deprivation.
How much sleep do you generally get per night?

14/09/2021

Anxiety & Stress
Stress and anxiety are actually supposed to be valuable tools for our body—ones that initiate our fight or flight response to save us from immediate danger and to lead to resiliance and creativity. The trouble is that in modern times, many people experience chronic stressors and anxiety that do NOT end in fight or flight. That allows the stress hormones to cause detrimental physical effects, including hindering our immune system. People who describe themselves as being “burnt out” are twice as likely to get C0V1D and it is 3 times as likely to be severe. Not only that, but medications that are used to treat anxiety and other mental conditions are correlated with more severe cases of C0V1D—not only because of the conditions themselves, but because of the actions of these meds in the cells of the body.
Some ways to deal with stress and anxiety are to use it in a positive way by figuring out what is important to you, develop empathy, and turn it into action-especially action that shifts your focus to serving or helping others. You can also make a “what if” list of your worried, go through it and make a to-do list which addresses the things on that list. This helps to develop creativity and an optimistic mindset.
Exercise, sunshine, being out in nature, adequate sleep, true social support (beyond social media), meditation/prayer, singing and humor also help reduce stress and anxiety.

10/09/2021

Vitamin D is SO important for your health! But living in Ohio without enough sunshine during much of the year, I must supplement to keep my levels up (along with Vitamin K, which is necessary as they work together). Vitamin D deficiency is associated with low bone density, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, cancer, severe asthma in children, and possibly diabetes, hypertension, glucose intolerance, & multiple sclerosis. Vitamin D deficiency also seems to be associated with more severe cases of flu, colds and C0V1D, as it is so important in supporting immune function.
Risk factors for Vitamin D deficiency are inadequate sunlight exposure, low dietary intake, advanced age, obesity, fat malabsorption, dark skin, and some medications. Some foods that are high in Vitamin D are cod liver oil, sockeye salmon, sardines, tuna (and several other fish), white mushrooms, and eggs (in the yolk).

08/09/2021

Simple Health Tip
A 20 minute daily walk outside will have multiple health benefits. A sedentary lifestyle is related to multiple health problems, including the latest one going around. A 20 minute walk outside has been proven to boost NK cell production, and is a great start to changing a sedentary lifestyle. NK cells are natural killer cells, an integral part of the immune system, known best for killing virally infected cells and controlling early signs of cancer. AND…if you take a walk outside during the day, you can get sunshine to help with your vitamin D levels! Vitamin D deficiency is associated with low bone density, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, cancer, severe asthma in children, and possibly diabetes, hypertension, glucose intolerance, multiple sclerosis. Vitamin D deficiency also seems to be associated with more severe cases of flu, colds and the vid.

07/09/2021

To V or not to V.
Shot vs V.
Mandatory M vs M choice.
V passports.
Treat/suppress symptoms vs find & treat root cause.
HOW to treat illness.
Well care vs sick care.

There is much debate on illness & germs and how to manage them. I avoid those debates and discussions on social media. There seems to be a deficit of information in the news and on social media addressing ways to keep your body, mind and soul as healthy as possible! There are so many simple things you can do (or quit doing) to bring your body to a state of wellness, maximizing its capacity to heal and fight illness. As a fitness coach, nutrition nerd, certified natural childbirth educator (including certification in pregnancy nutrition), former scientist (in preclinical drug development and toxicology on FDA regulated studies) and avid reader/researcher/learner…I’ve learned a lot over the past 3 decades and want to share! I love my friends and want y’all to live as well and as long as possible. Key word: WELL.
It can be overwhelming learning about all of the things that can be done or be avoided and how they affect health. People can have an “all or nothing” attitude, thinking that if they can’t do all of it, they won’t do any of it and just give up. I don’t make perfect health choices by any means, but the more simple healthy choices I do implement, the better I feel.
I’m going to share many things I’ve learned that you can take or leave. Choose the ones that work for you without overwhelming yourself. It’s about balance.
Stay tuned for posts that focus on taking care of the only body, mind and soul that you’ve been given.

*And please do not debate and fight on my posts. While I have opinions and views on most related topics, I won’t share them on here. I love educated discussion and debate, but social media seems to invite mainly emotional debates that quickly devolve. I am willing to have actual face-to-face discussions with friends who wish to discuss information and educated conclusions, whether the same or different from mine. I’m also willing to help you figure out practical ways to improve your wellness.